Monday was a solid day for Dan Ellis: The veteran NHL goalie, a little before he was scheduled to receive his escrow check for 2011-12, signed a professional tryout contract with the Charlotte Checkers.

Ellis, 32, spent the past two seasons backing up Jonas Hiller with the Anaheim Ducks. He's trying to win a job with the Checkers during the NHL lockout and is one of the first veteran free agents to take that route.

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He joins young Carolina Hurricanes stars Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk in Charlotte. NHL franchises sent hundreds of players, largely inexperienced ones on entry-level or two-way deals, to their AHL affiliates before the lockout began on Sept. 15.

Ellis didn't sign a contract with an NHL team after 2011-12—he played in 10 games total because of a sports hernia—but remains a viable backup when healthy; in stints with the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ducks, he's 72-57-27 with a 2.68 goals-against average, .911 save percentage and 12 shutouts. In 2007-08, with the Predators, he led the NHL with a .924 save percentage in 44 games.

That said, what Ellis is best known for is the @fakedanellis Twitter account, a parody of some ... perceived concerns he had in 2010 about the NHL's escrow system, which holds a percentage of NHL players' salary to insure the agreed-upon CBA revenue split.

Coincidentally enough, the league and NHLPA were scheduled to meet Monday to finalize accounting of last year's hockey-related revenue, which means that players—Ellis included—have a refund on the way.

Actual Dan Ellis tweet: "I can honestly say that I am more stressed about money now than when I was in college."

Fake Dan Ellis tweet: "You poor people really are lucky. You probably don’t even know how much the cost of top-hats has exploded this year."